Specialized Media Presentation Via an Electronic Program Guide (EPG)

ABSTRACT

An electronic program guide (EPG) may include entries that enable access to one or more images. In some implementations, when an image-related entry is selected by a user, a device presents the one or more images that are associated with the selected entry. In some implementations, portions of the EPG are presented as links. Selection of a link effectuates a search and may be followed by the visual presentation of one or more images resulting from the search. Additionally, in some implementations, an image can be communicated with an electronic communication. In response to the electronic communication, an image entry may be added to the channel lineup of the EPG. Selection of the image entry in the EPG may cause the device to visually present the image.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of divisional application U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/099,275, filed May 2, 2011, which claimspriority to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/833,709, filed on Apr.27, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,962,938, entitled “Specialized MediaPresentation Via an Electronic Program Guide (EPG),” the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates in general to the specialized presentation ofmedia via one or more television applications and in particular, by wayof example but not limitation, to specially presenting media responsiveto user selection of linked entries of an electronic program guide(EPG).

BACKGROUND

Many images are available over the Internet from many different sources.In fact, the number of images being posted on web sites for publicaccess increases daily. Furthermore, individuals email thousands if notmillions of images daily to selected friends and family. Personalcomputers are designed to present these images to users. For example,personal computers are usually capable of displaying web pages at asufficiently high resolution to enable a user to view many items atonce. Personal computers also typically include robust email programswith multiple option settings for conveniently receiving emailed images.Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, users of personal computersaccept if not expect a relatively high degree of complexity whenoperating their personal computers, including when accessing images overthe Internet.

Users of television set-top boxes, on the other hand, expect if notdemand a relatively low degree of complexity when operating theirset-top boxes. Although some devices using a television for display havepreviously offered the ability to access email, consumers have beengenerally averse to engaging in the complexity of email with theirtelevisions while resting on their living room couch with their remotes.Furthermore, television users have not been receptive to using theirrelatively low-resolution televisions for exploring the Internet.

Accordingly, there is a need for schemes and/or techniques that canenable television users to have access to and enjoy the many images thatare available over the Internet from various sources in an extensiveand/or convenient manner.

SUMMARY

An electronic program guide (EPG) is enhanced to have entries thatenable access to one or more images (or media generally). When animage-related entry is selected by a user, a television-based devicepresents the one or more images that are associated with the selectedentry. In a described search-related implementation, portions of theEPG, such as actors and actresses names, are presented as links.Selection of a link effectuates a search of a group of files (e.g.,using a search service such as a third party search engine from theInternet) and is followed by the visual presentation of a slide show ofimages resulting from the search. In a described email-relatedimplementation, a third party can email images to an email address thatis associated with the television-based device. In response to theemailed images, an image entry is added to the channel lineup of theEPG. Selection of the image entry causes the device to visually presentthe emailed images in a slide show.

Other method, system, approach, apparatus, server, client, device,media, procedure, arrangement, etc. implementations are describedherein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to reference likeand/or corresponding aspects, features, and components.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating examples of image access over ageneral network at a television-based device via an electronic programguide (EPG).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of image access viathe EPG in conjunction with a search.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram that illustrates an example of a method foraccessing images via an EPG in conjunction with a search.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of image access viathe EPG in conjunction with an email.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram that illustrates an example of a method foraccessing images via an EPG in conjunction with an email.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating examples of image access viageneral television applications in conjunction with a search.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Introduction

Television-based devices, such as set-top boxes, receive televisionsignals by cable, satellite, traditional antennas, and so forth. Thereceived television signals are displayed on a display screen.Especially because of the multitude of channels that are availabletoday, such television-based devices often include an electronic programguide (EPG).

EPGs typically present a listing of programs that may be viewed by auser as cross-referenced by the scheduled viewing time. EPGs alsofrequently include entries for pay-per-view programs. Programs can belocated by title, subject, broadcast time, and so forth. When a userselects a program from the EPG, a description of the selected program ispresented on the display screen.

In a described implementation, the EPG is enhanced to have entries thatenable access to one or more images. When an image-related entry isselected by a user, the television-based device presents the one or moreimages that are associated with the selected entry.

In a described search-related implementation, portions of the EPG, suchas actors and actresses names, are presented as links. Selection of alink initiates a search of a group of files. This group of files may bethose files (e.g., web pages) indexed by a search service such as athird party search engine that is accessible via the Internet. Searchresults in a first format from the search service are scrubbed toproduce scrubbed search results in a second, more accessible format.Images from the scrubbed search results in the second format may then bepresented visually in a slide show.

In a described email-related implementation, a third party can emailimages to an email address that is associated with the television-baseddevice. In response to the emailed images, an image entry is added tothe channel lineup of the EPG. Selection of the image entry causes thedevice to retrieve the emailed images and visually present the retrievedimages in a slide show.

Example of Environment for Specialized Media Presentation Via an EPG

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating examples of image 102 access overa general network 104 at a television-based device 110 via an EPG 114.General network 104 includes or otherwise provides access to multipleimages 102. General network 104 may be, for example, the internet. Aserver 108 is coupled to general network 104.

Server 108 is part of television network 106. In a describedimplementation and as illustrated, television network 106 comprises acable network. However, television network 106 may alternatively berealized as a satellite network, a transmission-tower-type network, andso forth. Furthermore, television network 106 may optionally includemultiple servers 108, multiple peer or hierarchical nodes, multiplecontent distribution levels, and so forth.

Coupled to television network 106 is a television-based device that isrealized as client 110. Client 110 receives television content fromserver 108 through television network 106. Such television content isdisplayed by client 110 on display screen 112. Display screen 112 may beintegral with or merely connected (wirelessly or by wire) to client 110.

Client 110 includes one or more processors 116 and at least one memory118. Memory 118 includes processor-executable instructions that areexecutable by processor 116 to effectuate functions of client 110.Memory 118 may be realized as volatile or nonvolatile memory. Moregenerally, client 110 may include and/or be coupled to media generally(e.g., electromagnetic or optical media) that may be volatile ornon-volatile media, removable or non-removable media, storage ortransmission media, some combination thereof, and so forth.

Memory 118 includes an EPG application 120, which may compriseprocessor-executable instructions. More generally, EPG application 120may comprise hardware, software, firmware, or some combination thereof,and so forth. EPG application 120 is capable of establishing andpresenting EPG 114. EPG application 120 is also capable of updating theEPG in response to communications from server 108 and of modifying thedisplayed portion of the EPG in response to user input. Although notexplicitly shown, client 110 is capable of accepting user input (e.g.,from a remote, a keyboard, a gyroscopic device, etc.).

As illustrated in FIG. 1, EPG 114 includes multiple entries. Theseentries include channel entries, individual cells, particular fields,and linked symbols. Typically, but not exclusively, linked symbols arealphanumeric characters. An example of an alternative linked symbol is arepresentative emblem or a geometric shape (e.g., a bullet point that isproximate to a word). With regard to channel entries, televisionchannels “X” and “Y” and image channels #1 and #2 are shown in EPG 114.

Each channel entry corresponds to a horizontal row in EPG 114. However,channels may alternatively be organized into vertical columns or in someother manner. Each channel entry can include multiple cell entries, witheach individual cell entry corresponding to a viewable program fortelevision channels and to a viewable image collection (IC) for imagechannels. Selection of a program cell entry for a television channel canactivate presentation of a detailed description of the selected programand/or presentation of the selected program itself.

In accordance with a search-related implementation, a link 122 isincluded in a movie cell for channel “Y”. Link 122 provides access toimages 102(A) that are acquired as a result of a search that isconducted responsive to link 122. In other words, upon selection of link122 by a user, images 102(A) that are related to link 122 are acquiredfrom general network 104 with a search of a group of files thereof andthen presented on display screen 112 by client 110. This search-relatedimplementation, which involves two-way communication with generalnetwork 104 after user selection of link 122 as indicated by the doublearrows, is described further below in a section entitled “Image Accessvia an EPG in conjunction with a Search” and with reference to FIGS. 2and 3.

In accordance with an email-related implementation, a cell-level or link124 corresponding to image channel #1 is selectable by a user to provideaccess to images 102(B), which have been previously emailed to an emailaddress that is associated with client 110. Upon selection by a user ofentry 124 for image channel #1, images 102(B) are retrieved by client110 and then presented on display screen 112. This email-relatedimplementation, which involves one-way “quasi-push” communication overgeneral network 104 prior to user selection of link 122 as indicated bythe single arrow, is described further below in a section entitled“Image Access via an EPG in conjunction with an Email” and withreference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

Image Access Via an EPG in Conjunction with a Search

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of image access viaEPG 114 in conjunction with a search. EPG 114 is shown in a detailedprogram description mode in which details of a program are provided to auser. Such details include program title, program description, andartistic contributors, such as a director, a producer, an actor, anactress, and so forth.

As illustrated, “actor” and “actress” are links as indicated by theunderline formatting. Alternatively, hyper-linking may be indicatedusing bold formatting, differently colored letters, a proximate symbol,some combination thereof, and so forth. Although only “actor” and“actress” are indicated as links in FIG. 2, any aspect of the detailedprogram description may be so indicated. The actor link 122 is indicatedas having a selector pointing to it. Specifically, a selector ring 202is shown. Other alternative selectors include an arrow or other pointer,a cursor, highlighting/inverse video, and so forth.

In a described implementation, client 110 includes a link target monitor204, a search effectuator 206, a search results scrubber 208, and ascrubbed results presenter 210. These components may be componentsstored on memory 118 (of FIG. 1) and functional in conjunction withprocessor 116. Link target monitor 204 monitors EPG 114 to track thelocation of selector ring 202 and to detect when a link target, such as“actor”, is being selected by a user with an input device. Link targetmonitor 204, in particular, may be part of EPG application 120.

After a link has been selected by a user as detected by link targetmonitor 204, search effectuator 206 causes a search to be performed.Generally, search effectuator 206 initiates a search on a group of filesresponsive to the selected link. More specifically, search effectuator206 formulates a search request that uses the link target, including aportion thereof, as a keyword in the search. The search may be performedby any entity, including client 110, on any group of files that areaccessible over television network 106 or general network 104.

In a described implementation, however, the search is performed by asearch service 212, such as a third party search engine. Examples ofsuch search engines include: Google®, Yahoo! ®, MSN® Search, and soforth. Search effectuator 206 formulates a search request for theintended search service 212 and transmits the search request to searchservice 212. For example, search effectuator 206 may formulate a searchrequest such as ‘http://SearchServiceName.com/search? . . .keyword=“actor”’ and then send the search request across televisionnetwork 106 via server 108 and thence to search service 212 over generalnetwork 104. If available at the intended search service 212, searcheffectuator 206 may also indicate that an image search is beingrequested so that returned search results already focus on images of thesearch target.

Search service 212 performs a search responsive to the search requestreceived from search effectuator 206 on the group of files that searchservice 212 has indexed. This group of files may be, for example, asignificant portion of the web pages that are available on generalnetwork 104. After performing the requested search to locate images102(A), search service 212 produces search results 214.

Search results 214 include a number of individual images 102 a. Asillustrated, search results 214 includes “n” images 102 a (i.e., image#1 102 a 1, image #2 102 a 2, image #3 102 a 3 . . . image #n 102 an).Search results 214 is sent back or returned to client 110 over generalnetwork 104 and across television network 106 via server 108. Searchresults 214 is provided to client 110 from search service 212 in aformat that is not readily presentable by client 110 on display screen112, at least not in a user-friendly manner.

For example, search results 214 may be in a hypertext markup language(html) format. A television user does not typically want to see a listof uniform resource locators (URLs). Furthermore, if search results 214contain thumbnails of images 102(A), such thumbnails are likelyunviewable on a television's relatively low-resolution display screen112 by a user sitting several feet distant therefrom.

Consequently, search results scrubber 208 accepts search results 214(e.g., from search effectuator 206) and scrubs search results 214 toproduce scrubbed search results 216. Scrubbed search results 216 may beproduced from search results 214 by parsing search results 214 and thentransforming the parsed search results into a different format (e.g., adata file that is readily accessible by EPG application 120). Generally,search results 214 may be parsed to extract the desired parts thereof;specifically, search results 214 may be parsed by looking at textualclues as to the contents of included images or links to images. Anexample of such parsing and transforming is screen scraping of an htmldocument.

An html document, for example, may be parsed according to image tags.The parsed search results are then transformed into another format suchas an extensible markup language (XML) format. An XML documentcomprising scrubbed search results 216 that results from a scrubbing ofsearch results 214 by search results scrubber 208 may be as follows:

<slideshow>   <image #1 URL=‘  ’>   <image #2 URL=‘  ’>   <image #3URL=‘  ’>     ...   <image #n URL=‘  ’> </slideshow>.

Regardless of the specific format of scrubbed search results 216 asproduced by search results scrubber 208, scrubbed results presenter 210accepts scrubbed search results 216 and presents them on display screen112. For example, scrubbed results presenter 210 may present scrubbedsearch results 216 as a slideshow 218. In a slideshow 218, the user maybe given the ability to manually flip through images 102 a (in eitherdirection), to adjust an automatic image replacement speed, to scrollrapidly through images 102 a, and so forth. Other image presentationmechanisms may alternatively be employed by scrubbed results presenter210.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram 300 that illustrates an example of a method foraccessing images via an EPG in conjunction with a search. Flow diagram300 includes seven (7) primary blocks 302-314 and eleven (11) blockstotal. Although the actions of flow diagram 300 may be performed inother environments and with a variety of hardware and softwareimplementations, FIGS. 1 and 2 are used in particular to illustratecertain aspects and examples of the method. For example, a client 110may perform the actions of blocks 302-314.

At block 302, an EPG including link targets is displayed. For example,client 110 may display EPG 114 having link 122 with a link target of“actor” on display screen 112.

At block 304, link targets are monitored. For example, link targetmonitor 204 may monitor link targets of EPG 114 by tracking a selectorsuch as selector ring 202 and awaiting a user selection. At block 306,it is detected if a link target has been selected. For example, linktarget monitor 204 may detect if a user selects a link 122. If no linktarget has been selected, then monitoring continues at block 304 as longas links 122 are present on a displayed EPG 114. If, on the other hand,a link target has been selected (as detected at block 306), flow diagram300 continues with block 308.

At block 308, a search of a group of files is effectuated using the linktarget as a keyword. For example, search effectuator 206 may effectuatea search with a search service 212 using the selected link target as akeyword in the search. More specifically, at block 308A, a searchrequest is formulated responsive to the link target. For example, searcheffectuator 206 may formulate a search request using “actor”, includinga part of the full name of the actor, as a keyword that is the target ofthe search.

At block 308B, the formulated search request is sent to a searchservice. For example, the search request may be sent from searcheffectuator 206 of client 110 over television network 106 via server 108and over general network 104 to an intended search service 212.Selection of the intended search service 212 and/or formulation of thesearch request can determine, at least partially, the constituency ofthe group of files to be searched.

At block 310, search results in a first format are received. Forexample, search results 214 in a first format such as html may bereceived from search service 212 at search effectuator 206 of client110.

At block 312, the search results in the first format are scrubbed toproduce search results in a second format. For example, search results214 in a first format such as html may be scrubbed by search resultsscrubber 208 to produce scrubbed search results 216 in as second formatsuch as xml. More specifically, at block 312A, the search results in thefirst format are parsed. For example, search results scrubber 208 mayparse search results 214 in the first format such as html to produceparsed search results. At block 312B, the parsed search results aretransformed into the second format. For example, search results scrubber208 may transform the parsed search results into scrubbed search results216 (e.g., parsed and transformed search results) in the second formatsuch as xml.

At block 314, the scrubbed search results of the second format arepresented on a display screen. For example, scrubbed results presenter210 may present scrubbed search results 216 on display screen 112 usinga slideshow 218 mechanism.

Image Access via an EPG in conjunction with an Email

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of image access viaEPG 114 in conjunction with an email 402. Images 102(B) that are emailed402 toward client 110 become accessible to users of client 110 via EPG114 as presented on display screen 112.

Along with television-channel-related entries, EPG 114 displaysimage-related entries. These entries include image channels #1 and #2 aswell as their corresponding image collection (IC) cells. Specifically,image channel #1 corresponds to an IC #1A cell and an IC #1B cell, andimage channel #2 corresponds to an IC #2A cell and IC #2B cell. Althoughonly two image channels are displayed with EPG 114, a given EPG mayactually include one, two, three or more image channels at any time,depending on the number of received images 102 and/or the number ofaddresses from which they originated as is described further below.

In a described implementation, client 110 is associated with an emailaddress 404. For example, associated email address 404 may be similar to“CustomerName@TelevisionServiceProvider.com”. Client 110 includes an EPGentry inserter 406, an image entry monitor 408, an image retriever 410,and an image presenter 412. These components may be components stored onmemory 118 (of FIG. 1) and functional in conjunction with processor 116.Operation of these components is described by way of the following emailexample.

In this email example, a third party has access to images 102(B) thatthe third party wishes to share with a user of client 110. The thirdparty prepares email 402 (e.g., using a standard or specialized emailapplication) at some device that is connected to general network 104.Email 402 comprises images 102(B). For example, email 402 may be(primarily) images 102(B) encapsulated as the payload of one or morepackets, or email 402 may include (such as in an attachment) images102(B). The destination address of email 402 corresponds to associatedemail address 404.

Email 402 is sent across general network 104 to a mail server 108(M).Mail server 108(M) handles email arriving from general network 104 forall or part of the total clients 110 that are coupled to televisionnetwork 106. Mail server 108(M) forwards email 402 to content server108(C). Although shown and described separately, content server 108(C)and mail server 108(M) may be co-located together and/or functioning asa single logical server. Content server 108(C) saves/stores email 402,including at least images 102(B) and an identification of email 402.

Content server 108(C) sends a message over television network 106 toclient 110 that notifies client 110 of new images 102(B). Thisnotification message is handled by EPG entry inserter 406. Generally,EPG entry inserter 406 inserts into EPG 114 an image entry representingthe newly arrived images 102(B).

Specifically, EPG entry inserter 406 creates an image entry thatincludes an indication of the images to which it provides access andadds this created entry to EPG 114. For example, a created entry mayinclude the source address and/or associated sender of email 402 and/ora date of email 402. Although not so illustrated in FIG. 4, theseindications may be presented as links within an image-related entry. Inthis example, the IC #1B cell is inserted into EPG 114 by EPG entryinserter 406 to provide access to images 102(B).

After EPG 114 is displayed on display screen 112, a user can maneuver aselector such as selector ring 202 to highlight an image-related entry.This movement and selection of a highlighted entry is monitored by imageentry monitor 408. Image entry monitor 408, in particular, may be partof EPG application 120. As illustrated, the IC #1B cell is highlightedby selector ring 202. When a user selects the highlighted IC #1B cell,image entry monitor 408 detects the selection and activates imageretriever 410.

Image retriever 410, in response to user selection of the IC #1B cell,retrieves images 102(B) that are associated therewith. Generally, imageretriever 410 retrieves images 102(B) over television network 106 fromserver storage 414 via content server 108(C). Specifically, imageretriever 410 formulates an image retrieval request communication andtransmits it to content server 108(C) across television network 106. Inresponse, content server 108(C) acquires images 102(B) from serverstorage 414 and sends them back to client 110 in an image deliverycommunication.

After delivery of images 102(B) to client 110 from content server108(C), image retriever 410 forwards them to image presenter 412. Imagepresenter 412 presents images 102(B) on display screen 112. For example,image presenter 412 may present images 102(B) visually on display screen112 using a slide show mechanism as illustrated in FIG. 2 (for images102(A)).

In an alternative implementation, a message sent from content server108(C) to client 110 that provides notice of newly received images102(B) may actually include images 102(B). Consequently, client 110stores/saves images 102(B) at a client storage 416. Client storage 416may be integral with client 110 or connected (by wire or wirelessly) toclient 110. For example, client storage 416 may be a hard drive or flashmemory that forms part of a set-top box, or it may be central storagefor a home network. Regardless, in this alternative implementation,image retriever 410 retrieves images 102(B) from client storage 416 whenthe IC #1B cell is selected by a user.

Image-related entries of EPG 114 may be organized in a myriad ofmanners. Additionally, image accessing that results from selectingdifferently organized and/or different types of image-related entriesmay differ in dependence on such organization and/or types. For example,all incoming images may be placed in association with the same imagechannel or even in the same image cell. However, an example of a moresophisticated approach to an organization for image-related entries isdescribed below.

In this described example, each particular image channel corresponds toa particular source address for emails 402 having images. Hence, imagechannel #1 may be from a grandparent's son while image channel #2 may befrom the grandparent's daughter. Images 102(B) accompanying eachrespective arriving email 402 are associated with a new respective ICcell in an image channel determined by the source address of thearriving emails 402.

Code words used by the sender (e.g., in the subject field) of emails 402may allow greater control by EPG entry inserter 406 for organizingimage-related entries of EPG 114. For example, “grandson” in the subjectfield enables an EPG entry inserter 406 to place all images of agrandson by way of a given child (having a particular source emailaddress) in association with the same IC cell, even if the images arrivein different emails.

Continuing with the described example, establishing a correspondencebetween image channels and source addresses of emails 402 facilitatesgreater flexibility regarding image access. For example, user selectionof an image channel can cause client 110 to retrieve and present theimages that are associated with all IC cells of the selected imagechannel. User selection of a single IC cell, on the other hand, cancause client 110 to retrieve and present those images that areassociated with that selected IC cell.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram 500 that illustrates an example of a method foraccessing images via an EPG in conjunction with an email. Flow diagram500 includes six (6) primary blocks 502-512 and eleven (11) blockstotal. Although the actions of flow diagram 500 may be performed inother environments and with a variety of hardware and softwareimplementations, FIGS. 1 and 4 are used in particular to illustratecertain aspects and examples of the method. For example, a client 110may perform the actions of blocks 502-512.

At block 502, notification of emailed images is received. For example,EPG entry inserter 406 of client 110 may receive a notification messageof new images 102(B), which have been received with email 402, from aserver 108 such as content server 108(C). If the notification messageincludes the emailed images, the action(s) of block 514 are performed.At block 514, the received emailed images are saved in client-sidestorage. For example, client 110 may save emailed images 102(B) atclient storage 416.

At block 504, an entry for the new images is inserted into an EPGlineup. For example, EPG entry inserter 406 may insert into EPG 114,along with the preexisting television channels of EPG 114, animage-related entry that is associated with and linked to emailed images102(B). More specifically, at block 504A an image channel is inserted,and at block 504B an image cell is inserted.

For example, if a source address of email 402 has not been previouslyencountered, then EPG entry inserter 406 may create a new image channelcorresponding to the new source address. EPG entry inserter 406 may thenalso create a new image cell of a new IC for images 102(B) within thenewly inserted image channel. This new image cell is thereforeassociated with the emailed images 102(B). If, on the other hand, thesource address of email 402 has been previously encountered, then EPGentry inserter 406 may create a new IC cell to be associated with thenew images and insert the new IC cell into an existing image channelcorresponding to the existing source address.

At block 506, image entries are monitored. For example, image entrymonitor 408 may monitor image-related entries of EPG 114 by tracking aselector such as selector ring 202 and awaiting a user selection. Atblock 508, it is detected if an image entry has been selected. Forexample, image entry monitor 408 may detect if a user selects ahighlighted image entry such as the IC #1B cell. If no image entry hasbeen selected, then monitoring continues at block 506 as long asimage-related entries are present on a displayed EPG 114. If, on theother hand, an image entry has been selected (as detected at block 508),flow diagram 500 continues with block 510.

At block 510, images associated with the selected image entry areretrieved. For example, image retriever 410 may retrieve images 102(B)that are associated with the selected IC #1B cell from a storagelocation. More specifically, at block 510A the associated images areretrieved from server storage. For example, image retriever 410 mayretrieve images 102(B) that are associated with the selected IC #1B cellfrom server storage 414. Alternatively, if the emailed images were savedin client storage at block 514, then at block 510B the associated imagesare retrieved from client storage. For example, image retriever 410 mayretrieve images 102(B) that are associated with the selected IC #1B cellfrom client storage 416.

At block 512, the retrieved images are presented. For example, imagepresenter 412 may acquire the retrieved images 102(B) that areassociated with the selected IC #1B cell from image retriever 410 andpresent the retrieved images 102(B) on display screen 112 (e.g., using aslide show mechanism).

Image Access via General Television Applications in conjunction withSearches

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating examples of image access viageneral television applications 602 in conjunction with a search. Client110 includes general television applications 602. As illustrated,television applications 602 include a general interface provider 604, animage slideshow requestor 606, and a closed captioning generator 608, aswell as EPG application 120. Client 110 is coupled to (e.g., connectedto, integral with, etc.) display screen 112. Different views 610, 612,and 614 that may be presented to a user on display screen 112 bytelevision applications 602 are also shown.

An example of image access via an EPG 114 in conjunction with a searchis described above with particular reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Tofacilitate a description of general television applications 602, somecomponent(s) of FIGS. 1 and 2 are reproduced in FIG. 6. For example, anEPG application 120 includes link target monitor (LTM) 204. When a linktarget is selected by a user, as detected by link target monitor 204,the search target (e.g., keyword) of the selected link target is usedfor the search by a general search component 206/208/210. As describedin greater detail above, search effectuator 206, search results scrubber208, and scrubbed results presenter 210 use the search target to attainsearch results, to scrub the search results, and to present the scrubbedsearch results on display screen 112. However, as described furtherbelow, such image access is not limited to EPG-related views and/orcomponents.

In a described implementation, a television-based device such as client110 includes televisions applications 602. Television applications 602present a particular view and/or provide a particular service to a useron an interactive and/or on a unilateral basis. Illustrated componentsinclude general interface provider 604, image slideshow requestor 606,and closed captioning generator 608. Although not explicitlyillustrated, other types of general television applications 602 may beincluded as part of client 110 and may be involved in image accesses inconjunction with searches. These components may be components stored atmemory 118 (of FIG. 1) and functional in conjunction with processor 116.Operation of these components is described by way of the followingdisplay screen view examples.

General interface provider 604 presents a general interface such as menu610. Menu 610 (e.g., as a launch point) provides users access to and/orlaunches other television applications 602. As shown, such othertelevision applications 602 may include a setup application, a channellineup guide application, an image slideshows application (e.g., imageslideshow requestor 606), and so forth. A user may activate these othertelevision applications 602 from menu 610 using an input mechanism(e.g., a selector ring 202).

Image slideshow requestor 606 presents an image slideshow requestinterface such as image slideshows 612. Image slideshows 612 includestwo different search parameter input regions 616 and 618. These twosearch parameter input regions 616 and 618 include a search input region616 and a search topics region 618. Search input region 616 enables auser to input a search target (e.g., by inputting a subjectcharacter-by-character through typing with a keyboard through characterindication with a remote, etc.). Search results responsive to the inputsearch target are then attained, scrubbed, and presented.

Search topics region 618 of image slideshows 612 includes a list oftopics #1, #2, #3 . . . #n that a user may select (e.g., using aselector ring 202) to indicate a search target. Search resultsresponsive to the selected topic are then attained, scrubbed, andpresented. The selected topics as presented in search topics region 618may be determined, for example, based on search targets that areselected and/or manually input by other users and are therefore ofcontemporary interest.

Closed captioning generator 608 generates closed captioning as shown forvideo with closed captioning activated 614. The video with closedcaptioning activated view 614 of display screen 112 includes closedcaptioning zone 620. Closed captioning zone 620 includes current closedcaptioning text for displayed video with selectable words. In otherwords, a user may select displayed words from closed captioning zone 620to be used as a search target. The selectable words may be any words inclosed captioning zone 620 or a specially denoted (e.g., with color,underlining, etc.) subset thereof. The selection may accomplished bycircling 622 the words, by highlighting the words, and so forth.

Thus, general television applications 602 may be enabled to serve as alaunching point for searches that result in image presentations. Inother words, different views presented and/or services provided bytelevision applications 602 may afford a user an opportunity to indicatea search target. Such search target indications may be made by manualcharacter input, by topic selection, by text selection, and so forth.The indicated search target is then used as a keyword or similar focusof a search by search effectuator 206. The search results attained bysearch effectuator 206 are thereafter scrubbed by search resultsscrubber 208. The scrubbed search results are subsequently presented byscrubbed results presenter 210 on display screen 112 (e.g., using aslideshow format).

The devices, actions, aspects, features, procedures, components, etc. ofFIGS. 1-6 are illustrated in diagrams that are divided into multipleblocks. However, the order, interconnections, interrelationships,layout, etc. in which FIGS. 1-6 are described and/or shown is notintended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the blockscan be modified, combined, rearranged, augmented, omitted, etc. in anymanner to implement one or more systems, methods, devices, procedures,media, apparatuses, servers, clients, arrangements, etc. for specializedmedia presentation via an EPG (or a television application generally).Furthermore, although the description herein includes references tospecific implementations, the illustrated and/or describedimplementations can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software,firmware, or combination thereof and using any suitable devicearchitecture(s), television network element(s), EPG organization(s),television application(s) and/or display screen view(s) thereof, networkprotocol(s), media format(s), and so forth.

Furthermore, although the description above focuses on acquiring andpresenting images, the implementations as described herein mayalternatively be implemented with regard to media files generally, suchas those having moving pictures and/or audio. For example, a scrubbedsearch result 216 (of FIG. 2) may reference media files, includingimages and/or moving pictures. Additionally, one or more media files maybe emailed 402 (in FIG. 4) toward an email address 404 that isassociated with a client 110 of a television network 106.

Implementations for specialized media presentation via an EPG (or atelevision application generally) may be described in the generalcontext of processor-executable instructions. Generally,processor-executable instructions include routines, programs, protocols,objects, interfaces, components, data structures, etc. that performand/or enable particular tasks and/or implement particular abstract datatypes. Specialized media presentation via an EPG (or a televisionapplication generally), as described in certain implementations herein,may also be practiced in distributed processing environments where tasksare performed by remotely linked processing devices that are connectedthrough a communications link and/or network. Especially but notexclusively in a distributed computing environment, processor-executableinstructions may be located in separate storage media, executed bydifferent processors, and/or propagated over transmission media.

Although systems, media, devices, methods, procedures, apparatuses,techniques, schemes, approaches, procedures, arrangements, and otherimplementations have been described in language specific to structural,logical, algorithmic, and functional features and/or diagrams, it is tobe understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or diagrams described.Rather, the specific features and diagrams are disclosed as exemplaryforms of implementing the claimed invention.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A device comprising: a display screen that candisplay an electronic program guide (EPG) lineup, the EPG lineupincluding a listing of channels, wherein the listing of channelsincludes one or more channels directed to television programscross-referenced with a scheduled viewing time and at least oneadditional data channel directed to a data collection; an EPG entryinserter, implemented by a processor, to insert a notification link intothe at least one additional data channel; a user input monitor to detecta user selection of the notification link; a data retriever thatretrieves data from the data collection in response to the userselection of the notification link; and a data presenter that receivesthe data from the data retriever and presents the data on the displayscreen.
 22. A device as claim 21 recites, wherein: the additional datachannel comprises an image channel; the data collection comprises acollection of viewable images; and the data comprises at least oneviewable image.
 23. A device as claim 21 recites, wherein: theadditional data channel comprises a media file channel; the datacollection comprises a collection of media files; and the data comprisesat least one media file.
 24. A device as claim 21 recites, wherein theEPG entry inserter inserts the notification link based at least in parton receiving a notification that a data item has been extracted from areceived communication and stored by a server in the data collectionstored at a storage area of the server.
 25. A device as claim 21recites, wherein: the notification link is a first notification link andthe data is a first piece of data corresponding to the firstnotification link; and the EPG inserter is configured to insert a secondnotification link into the at least one additional data channel, thesecond notification link corresponding to a second piece of data.
 26. Adevice as claim 25 recites, wherein when the user selection is aselection of the at least one additional data channel, the dataretriever is configured to retrieve the first piece of data and thesecond piece of data from the data collection for display by the datapresenter.
 27. A device as claim 25 recites, wherein: the firstnotification link corresponds to a first source of the communicationfrom which the first piece of data was extracted; and the secondnotification link corresponds to a second source of anothercommunication from which the second piece of data was extracted,different from the first source.
 28. A device as claim 21 recites,further comprising a local storage area associated with the devicewherein: the local storage area is configured to store the data inresponse to receipt of the data contemporaneously with receipt of anotification that prompts the EPG entry inserter to create thenotification link in the EPG lineup; and the data retriever retrievesthe data from the local storage area.
 29. A method implemented by aserver comprising: sending to a client, an electronic program guide(EPG) lineup that includes a listing of channels, wherein one or morechannels of the listing of channels are television channels directed totelevision programs cross-referenced with a scheduled viewing time andone or more channels of the listing of channels are data channelsdirected to one or more data collections, individual ones of the one ormore data channels having a unique source address for receivingelectronic communications; receiving an electronic communicationcontaining data, the data being distinct from content displayed in thetelevision programs, the electronic communication being addressed to theunique source address corresponding to one of the one or more datachannels; extracting the data from the electronic communication; storingthe data at a storage of the server; sending an instruction to theclient in response, at least in part, to receiving the data, theinstruction instructing the client to insert a notification link in oneof the one or more data channels having the unique source addresscorresponding to the one of the one or more data channels, wherein thedata is intended to be associated with the notification link; receivinga request from the client to retrieve the data; and sending the data tothe client.
 30. A method as claim 29 recites, wherein the data comprisesone or more of viewable images or media files.
 31. A method as claim 29recites, wherein the receiving the electronic communication containingthe data includes receiving the electronic communication as an emailfrom a mail server.
 32. A method as claim 29 recites, wherein theelectronic communication is a first electronic communication, the datais a first data item, and the one of the one or more data channels is afirst data channel, the method further comprising: receiving a secondelectronic communication containing a second data item, the secondelectronic communication originating from a different source than thefirst electronic communication, the second electronic communicationbeing addressed to the unique source address corresponding to a secondchannel of the one or more data channels; extracting the second dataitem from the second electronic communication; storing the second dataitem at the storage of the server; and sending an instructioninstructing the client to display a notification link in the second datachannel.
 33. A method as claim 32 recites, wherein: the first electroniccommunication is received from a first email address, the first emailaddress being associated with the first data channel; and the secondelectronic communication is received from a second email address,different from the first email address, the second email address beingassociated with the second data channel.
 34. A method as claim 29recites, wherein: the individual ones of the one or more data channelsinclude one or more data cells; and individual data cells of the one ormore data cells are associated with particular words.
 35. A method asclaim 34 recites, wherein the method further comprises organizing thedata in the individual data cells based at least in part on wordsincluded in the electronic communication containing the data.
 36. Adevice comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; anelectronic program guide (EPG) application maintained on the memory andexecuted on the processor to perform operations including: presenting anEPG having a listing of entries, wherein at least some entries of thelisting of entries are directed to programs for television channels andat least one entry of the listing of entries enables access to one ormore pieces of data, wherein the at least one entry is presented in thelisting of entries in response to receiving a notification from a serverincluded in a television-based network indicating that the one or morepieces of data have been obtained by the server from a receivedelectronic communication and stored by the server at a storage of theserver; receiving selection of the at least one entry by user input tocause the device to retrieve the one or more pieces of data; andpresenting the one or more pieces of data on a display screen inresponse to the user input.
 37. A device as claim 36 recites, whereinthe one or more pieces of data include images and media files.
 38. Adevice as claim 36 recites, wherein: the at least one entry comprises alinked data channel; and selection of the linked data channel by theuser input causes the device to present the one or more pieces of dataassociated with multiple data cells of the selected linked data channel.39. A device as claim 36 recites, wherein: the EPG application isexecuted to perform further operations that include retrieving the oneor more pieces of data from the storage of the server at which the oneor more pieces of data were stored; and obtaining and storing of the oneor more pieces of data by the server is responsive to receipt of anemail having a destination address that is associated with the device.40. A device as claim 36 recites, wherein the EPG application isexecuted to perform further operations that include producing the EPGwith multiple entries of the listing of entries that each enable accessto one or more pieces of data, each entry corresponding to a differentsource of the one or more pieces of data corresponding to that entry,and each entry represented as a different data channel in the EPG.